The 8 best apps for family travel

Apps designed to engage your kids with travel – our pick of the best

1. Travel Bingo

This app brings bingo hall excitement to the age-old road trip game of 'I Spy' by randomly generating a card featuring road signs, vehicles, livestock and other on-the-road markers. Kids mark each one that they see, and the first to get a line wins – just like bingo. Can be played in blackout form as well, where the first to find every item wins.

2. UNESCO World Heritage

This app fully describes all the UNESCO World Heritage sites, including Petra in Jordan, the Acropolis in Athens, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and Machu Picchu in Peru. Explore all the sites at home or check which ones are nearby on your travels. Choose your favourites and then mark them off as you visit them.

3. Dragons Adventure World Explorer

Only available on Window phones and tablets, this game uses Nokia's Here Maps to transform the real world location that you are travelling through into the mythical one of How To Train Your Dragon. Always wanted to see dragons fly around the Eiffel Tower? Now you can.

4. Postino

A great way to introduce your kids to the joys of sending postcards, rather than just posting online, this app lets you turn your trip photos into actual physical postcards and send them to your friends and family. The app is free but there is a charge for printing and postage.

5. CamFind

Not sure what that impressive building is in front of you? Simply fire up this app, take a picture, and CamFind uses mobile visual search technology to tell you telling you everything you need to know to impress the kids.

6. Trip Journal

A virtual travel scrapbook, Trip Journal allows your kids to record their travel routes, visited locations, full screen photos, videos, comments and blog entries. And then share them using your favourite social networks.

7. Roadside America

Take the road less travelled and never miss another silly statue or oddball attraction again with the Roadside America app. $2.99 unlocks one of seven US or Canada regions. Spend another $5.99 (in-app purchase) to unlock all 9,000+ wonders from around the world.

8. Nutshell

A quick, funky and fun way to create and share travel memories. Simply snap three pictures, add text and/or animated cartoons and BAM! You’re kids have created a fun little movie they can share via social media, email, or messaging.